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You're not going to find better value for your money!

» Pros

- It's free!
- Great visuals, even now!
- Sounds effects and voices are excellent.
- Amazing online competitive scene.
- Superb level design!
- Experience System & Command Posts.
- Incredibly strategic and tactical gameplay, even more-so than most 'tactical shooters'!
- Server browser.
- Awesome community.
- It's free!!!

» Cons

- No singleplayer gameplay.
- ETPro required for optimal gameplay experience.
- Visually less impressive than RtCW.
- Feels like a dumbed down version of RtCW.
- Implementation of classes is inferior to RtCW.
- Sniper rifles are all but useless.
- Average public server is too 'spammy'.

» Review

It's been quite a while since Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory was released to the public as a free multiplayer-only follow-up to Return to Castle Wolfenstein. The community has grown and evolved since then - and it still ranks amongst the most popular games to this day. So why is it that this game is still so popular?

On first glance the reasoning seems simple: it's a free follow-up to - arguably - the best team-based multiplayer fps ever created: Return to Castle Wolfenstein. It combines fast-paced 'alternative world war 2' infantry combat with classes, objectives & highly tactical gameplay. It's not even remotely realistic, but there's no denying that the combination of Quake-like movement with World War 2 weapons balanced for fun works... marvelously.

Even as a free game - this title manages to compete with the most popular online fps games of today and come out on top. The visuals might not be quite on par with today's level of detail, but it's appealing style and excellent textures ensure that it certainly still looks it's part. The situation is similar in the sound department, with perhaps not quite the amazing surround sound effects you're used to from Call of Duty 2, but plenty of quality weaponsfire and voicework to be admired. It might not be realistic like Medal of Honor or Call of Duty, but it certainly sounds cool, so who cares!?

The implementation of objectives and class-oriented gameplay is quite similar to it's predecessor, although W:ET's maps are certainly larger and more detailed, with usually more objectives to complete. These objectives can now also include side-objectives such as building command posts for far-away respawning and ammo/health resupply stations. That, and the addition of landmines, escortable vehicles, new weaponry (grenade launchers, portable MGs) and a new class (the covert ops) unfortunately make this game slightly too complex for the average Counter Strike player. It's not something you can get the hang of in an afternoon, particularly if you've never played Return to Castle Wolfenstein before.

Unfortunately it's not exactly heaven for RtCW fans either, because W:ET adds a couple of innovations that most of the community does not appreciate, at all. The panzerfaust has been toned down significantly, landmines are too abundant, airstrikes and artillery bombardments can be called in too often & groups of heavy soldiers can dominate spawn points too easily - are common complaints. In essence this comes down to one thing: vanilla ET is too 'spammy'. The solution? ETPro by Bani! A mod that allows server admins to implements dozens of changes, but also fixes the hitboxes, adds hitsounds and an armada of other options - which further complicate matters for newbies, but does help to make the game a lot more enjoyable.

Regardless, most RTCW fans such as myself still consider W:ET a step down from it's predecessor, even with ETPro. It might be free and add some nifty innovations that can be enjoyable, but overall it just doesn't 'feel' as nice as RtCW did. For one it's made sniper rifles all but useless, with covert ops - the only sniper class - never being necessary to complete objectives and always an excess luxury no team can afford. Furthermore it's too slow-paced and rate of fire has been toned down relative to RtCW. Even worse is that the visual style isn't quite as appealing as it's predecessor - in spite of a clearly improved engine and higher level of detail - which is mainly caused by the overly crisp textures. Overall W:ET feels like a dumbed down and easier version of RtCW, even if it's actually more complex, simply because the importance of individual skill has been toned down - and this effect has been amplified by higher player counts in matches.

In spite of Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory taking several steps back in comparison to it's predecessor, it's still an excellent free game. One aspect that helps lift it above RtCW is it's huge and active community, including one of the most active and supportive competitive communities of any online shooter. Everything about W:ET is geared for competitive play - and it's certainly at it's most enjoyable when played in the midst of an important clan match. When it comes to competitive scenes you won't easily find one more active and involved than this one - with thousands of clans gracing competition sites such as ClanBase and many tens of thousands of players still logging in to play every day.


If you are looking for an engaging, fast-paced shooter with amazing tactical depth - then this is your thing. It might not be quite on par with it's predecessor, but at least Enemy Territory is free and has a massive, active, community to play with. Despite being a less than 500 MB install, this game will keep you busy for many months and you're not going to be able to find better value for your money. So why are you still reading this!? Go download it!